The Smurfs (comics)


The Smurfs is a Belgian comic series, created by cartoonist Peyo. The titular creatures were introduced as supporting characters in an already established series, Johan and Peewit in 1958, and starred in their own series from 1959. More than forty Smurf comic albums have been created, 16 of them by Peyo. Originally, the Smurf stories appeared in Spirou magazine with reprints in many different magazines, but after Peyo left the publisher Dupuis, many comics were first published in dedicated Smurf magazines, which existed in French, Dutch and German. A number of short stories and one page gags have been collected in comic books next to the regular series. By 2008, Smurf comics have been translated into 25 languages, and some 25 million albums have been sold.
WWW smurf.com

History

In 1952, Peyo created a series in Spirou magazine titled Johan et Pirlouit, set in Europe during the Middle Ages. Johan serves as a brave young page to the king, and Pirlouit functions as his sidekick.
On 23 October 1958, Peyo introduced a new set of characters to the Johan et Pirlouit story "La Flûte à six trous". This alone caused no great excitement, as the brave duo constantly encountered strange new people and places. This time, they had the mission of recovering a magic flute, which required some sorcery by the wizard Homnibus. And in this manner, they met a tiny, blue-skinned humanoid creature in white clothing called a "Schtroumpf," followed by his numerous peers who looked just like him, with an elderly leader who wore red clothing and had a white beard called Grand Schtroumpf" .
Although intended to be secondary characters who were only to appear in the single episode, the characters proved to be a huge success, and the first independent spin-off Smurf stories appeared in Spirou in 1959, together with the first merchandising. The short Smurf stories were published as mini books, where the story was printed on a large page and had to be folded and cut by the reader into a small book.
A few years later, the first adventures were redrawn with a graphic design that made the characters more graceful. The stories became longer and were republished in full in a hardback version.

Volumes

This is the list of the original French-language comic issues. Some of them are anthologies of several stories. A number of them were translated into English by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge, and published by Hodder & Stoughton. The late comic artist Pascal Garray contributed to seventeen editions of The Smurf comics between 1990 and 2017. Garray's last comic, Les Schtroumpfs et les haricots Mauves, was released in September 2017.

Johan and Peewit appearances


  1. La flûte à six schtroumpfs
  2. La guerre des sept fontaines
  3. Le pays maudit
  4. Le sortilège de Maltrochu
  5. La horde du corbeau
  6. La nuit des sorciers

Original series

Albums made after the death of Peyo, with help from his son Thierry Culliford :

  1. Le Schtroumpfeur de Bijoux, Le Lombard, 01/01/1994,
  2. Docteur Schtroumpf, Le Lombard, 01/01/1996,
  3. Le Schtroumpf Sauvage, Le Lombard, 11/01/1998,
  4. La Menace Schtroumpf, Le Lombard, 11/01/2000,
  5. On ne Schtroumpfe pas le Progrès, Le Lombard, 11/01/2002,
  6. Le Schtroumpf Reporter, Le Lombard, 11/01/2003,
  7. Les Schtroumpfs Joueurs, Le Lombard, 01/01/2005,
  8. Salade de Schtroumpfs, Le Lombard, 01/13/2006,
  9. Un Enfant chez les Schtroumpfs, Le Lombard, 01/12/2007,
  10. Les Schtroumpfs et le livre qui dit tout, Le Lombard, 01/18/2008,
  11. Schtroumpfs les bains, Le Lombard, 04/3/2009,
  12. La Grande Schtroumpfette, Le Lombard, 04/16/2010,
  13. Les Schtroumpfs et l'Arbre d'Or, Le Lombard, 04/08/2011,
  14. Les Schtroumpfs de L'Ordre, Le Lombard, 03/23/2012,
  15. Les Schtroumpfs à Pilulit, Le Lombard, 04/19/2013,
  16. Les Schtroumpfs et L'Amour Sorcier, Le Lombard, 04/04/2014,
  17. Schtroupf Le Héros, Le Lombard, 03/13/2015,
  18. Les Schtroumpfs Et Le Demi-Genie, Le Lombard, 04/01/2016,
  19. Les Schtroumpfs Et Les Haricots Mauves, Le Lombard, 08/18/2017,
  20. Les Schtroumpfs Et Le Dragon Du Lac, Le Lombard, 03/02/2018,
  21. Les Schtroumpfs Et La Machine à Rêver, Le Lombard, 04/05/2019,
  22. Les Schtroumpfs Et Le Vol Des Cigognes, Le Lombard, 2020.
  23. Les Schtroumpfs et la tempête blanche, Le Lombard, 10/08/2021.
  24. Les Schtroumpfs et les Enfants perdus, Le Lombard, 2022.
  25. Gargamel, l'Ami des Schtroumpfs, Le Lombard, 10/13/2023.
  26. Les Schtroumpfs et la cape magique, Le Lombard, 2024.
43. Le Trophée des Schtroumpfs, Le Lombard, 8/29/2025

''Les Schtroumpfs et le Village des Filles'' (''The Smurfs and the Village of Girls'')

Albums featuring the Smurfy Grove Smurfs from Smurfs: The Lost Village.
  1. La Forêt interdite, Le Lombard, 04/24/2017,
  2. La trahison de Bouton d'Or, Le Lombard, 08/24/2018
  3. Le Corbeau (Smurfs), Le Lombard, 10/31/2019
  4. Un nouveau départ, Le Lombard, 11/24/2020
  5. Le Bâton de saule, Le Lombard, 2022.
  6. L'île vagabonde, Le Lombard, 2023.

''Look-In'' magazine strips

In the 1970s and '80s, the British children's magazine Look-In ran an original series of one-page comic-strip tales called "Meet the Smurfs."

Marvel Comics

In 1982 Marvel Comics released a Three issue mini series featuring full length stories and one page gags featuring The Smurfs. Marvel Comics also published a large format comic book as well as six mini comic books with a full length story in each comic book.

Papercutz graphic novels

Since August 2010, Papercutz has been issuing Smurfs comics, translated by Joe Johnson. Following a special preview comic in July 2010 that contained the story "The Smurfnapper," the following graphic novels have been issued to date:
  1. The Purple Smurfs
  2. The Smurfs and the Magic Flute
  3. King Smurf
  4. The Smurfette
  5. The Smurfs and the Egg
  6. The Smurfs and the Howlibird
  7. The Astrosmurf
  8. The Smurf Apprentice
  9. Gargamel and the Smurfs
  10. The Return of the Smurfette
  11. The Smurf Olympics
  12. Smurf Versus Smurf
  13. Smurf Soup
  14. The Baby Smurf
  15. The Smurflings
  16. The Aerosmurf
  17. The Strange Awakening of Lazy Smurf
  18. The Finance Smurf
  19. The Jewel Smurfer
  20. Doctor Smurf
  21. The Wild Smurf
  22. The Smurf Menace
  23. You Can't Smurf Progress
  24. The Smurf Reporter
  25. The Gambler Smurfs
  26. Smurf Salad
  27. "The Smurfs And The Bratty Kid"
  28. "Smurf & Turf"
Other special books:
  1. "Christmas Smurfs"
  2. "Forever Smurfette"
  3. "Smurf Monsters"
  4. "The Village Behind the Wall"
  5. "The Smurfs Special Boxed Set"
Papercutz published "The Smurf Submarine" in Geronimo Stilton & Smurfs for Free Comic Book Day on May 7, 2011.
Since 2021 Papercutz has continued to localize the Smurfs comics by creating a new series called “The Smurfs Tales”.

In popular culture

In the Belgian Comic Strip Center in Brussels the permanent exhibition brings homage to the pioneers of Belgian comics, among them Peyo. In the room dedicated to his work various objects, comic book pages, sketches,... from "The Smurfs" comics can be seen.
The Smurfs are among the many Belgian comics characters to jokingly have a Brussels street named after them. The Rue des Sables/Zandstraat has a commemorative plaque with the name Rue Schtroumpfs/Smurfstraat placed under the actual street sign.
Close to the Smurfs studios in Genval, a bronze statue of the Smurfs is sited in a traffic circle.
In 2003, a statue of a Smurf sculpting a larger statue of Smurfette was unveiled in Middelkerke, on the Belgian coast. It was sculpted by Monique Mol.
At the Marché aux Herbes/Grasmarkt in Brussels a statue of a Smurf on a toadstool can be seen. It was sculpted by Maryline Garbe and unveiled on June 25, 2012.